


Semantics

by reflectedmisery



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Denial, For All Of Them, Gen, Handplates, Post-traumatic event, and this is too much I'll stop now, first non-rvb fic of any kind actually, first undertale fic, handplates gives me too many feelings, i blame zarla, not too unusual, on Gaster's part
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 04:52:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10960059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reflectedmisery/pseuds/reflectedmisery
Summary: "He's not my son."He̞̗̜̩̠̩ͅ ̲̖h̡á͔̺̘̘̠s̜̘ a̳̗̖ ̙͎͝p͇͘i̻̭̫̻͕͎ec̟̗̜̤̱͝ͅe̬̲̠ ̵̭̤o͘f̘͓͚͙̯̦̺ ͏̼͕̰͔̱̬yo҉̭̱u͖̫̩̟r͈͘ s̨o̫̜͠u͔͍̗͙͙͇ḻ̱,̡ ̙̼̟̻͖̗̩a̡s̹͎͈ ̹̩̲̤̹͎d̗̱̩͙̥͖́ǫ̗̘͔̭̩͍̝e͔̘̻͇̩̰̻͝s̻ ̲̳͖̱̻̟̳ț̭̲ͅh̛e͙̳͉̺ ͖̲̰̤ͅo̲̯t͔h̭̮̟̯͇̪er̠͕̹͕̺ ̹̞͕͉̫͢ͅo҉̱̙͔̹n͎̣͙̻̝e̥͟.̤̥̬̠̦͍̗́ ̴̡̘͈̟̮͈͇̻I̘̪͉̘͉̼s͎͕̖̙̠͙ͅn̸̹'̧̗̹̞̪t̳̠ ̝̺͈̳͇̪í͈͔͓͉͍t͡ ̗͍ͅs̹͓̠͙̮̗e͚̕m̼̟͢a̦̥̞͔̫͜n̹̼͙ṱ͚̻̦̘ͅi̴̯̳̪̦͕̲ͅc̨̬̼͍̼̜̠̮s̰̟͘ ̡̘̙̞̤a̪̳̟͔̬̲t̖̜ ̦̬̦̼̰͙̤͡t̟h̟͔̖̥̼̩̮͞i̩s̡̲̬͓ ̛̪͉̫̘̺̩̦p̘͍͇̫̦o̻i͖n̵̻̫̩̣͉̗͕ṯ̸?̛͚





	Semantics

**Author's Note:**

> So this is me being stupid and writing something directly after Zarla posted this dramatic cliffhanger of a comic  
> http://zarla-s.tumblr.com/post/160856429497/previous-i-really-hate-having-to-break-this  
> I honestly couldn't help myself. I know it isn't done yet but I just couldn't resist. It's a miracle that I actually wrote something though. Even if it's kinda shit.  
> Criticism is welcome.  
>  ~~Seriously, tho, if I made a stupid mistake somewhere _please_ tell me I want to know these thing sooner rather than looking back and finding it then wallowing in eternal embarrassment.~~
> 
> [EDIT] I changed the summary. If anyone has trouble reading the Zalgo text of the Eldritch abomination, comment and I'll replace it with bold and strikethrough.

Gaster was tired. First the Eldritch abomination that he'd accidentally spawned in his lab, and now the ceaseless questions. Most of which he couldn't really answer. "WHAT WAS THAT?" "WHERE DID IT COME FROM?" "how did it know who you were?" "WHERE DID IT GO?" "what was it made out of?" "WILL IT COME BACK?" Each question was met with a curt _"I don't know."_

To be honest, the only reason he was humoring this and not telling them to shut up was because he didn't doubt that if he did, 2-P would start crying and/or screaming from shock and he did _not_ want to deal with that. (And he didn't want to admit it, but even just having to listen to the questions was helping him keep his mind blanked from what happened and himself calm.)

But of course, 1-S had to disturb this by asking the complicated questions.

"what did it mean when it called my bro your son? what is that?"

There was a silence in which he vainly hoped 2-P would fill by asking another inane question but when he lifted his head off his desk he found both pairs of sockets focused intently on him.

It took him another minute after he put his head back down to formulate an answer.

_"Unimportant."_

Subject 1 scowled. "didn't sound unimportant, with the way you denied it. what did it mean when it called us your children? is that somethin similar?"

Damn 1-S and how perceptive he was. Though, Gaster supposed, it would have come from himself, so he technically only had himself to blame. Sometimes he wished both of them were smart enough to keep up with him. This definitely wasn't one of those times.

Gaster gave a long-suffering sigh and paused for another moment to collect himself before sitting up. He wasn't going to get out of this one easily without giving an answer or leaving all three of them to their trauma. Honestly both were terrible options but this might be the lesser of two evils. For now at least.

_"It means you are of my dust and my magic, that you were created from a part of me."_

1-S furrowed his brow. By Asgore, Gaster was regretting this already. "but we were created from your dust. and magic is from the soul and you created us from your soul. so why did you deny it? it doesn't make any sense."

He resisted the urge to bang his skull on the table in front of him. It was very tempting at this point. He found himself sighing again before answering. _"You being my sons would make me your father. All of which implies emotional attachment."_

It was then that Subject 1 got that sly look that meant that Gaster really wasn't going to like what came put of his mouth next. "if you ain't 'emotionally attached' then why did you come between us and it so quickly. why did you shield my brother and attack it when it threatened him."

Prediction confirmed. Now how to get out of this one...

 _"I put a lot of time and effort into the two of you. It would be a huge waste of all of it if one or both of you died."_ 1-S grimaced for a second but continued to raise his eyebrow, skeptical and unconvinced. Fine then.

Gaster grabbed the right hands of both of his subjects, pushing the palms outward so they each got a clear view of their handplates. _"Let me put it this way. A father would never do_ this _to his children."_ He let the hands drop abruptly. _"Now both of you, go to sleep,"_ he growled, pointing to the bed in the corner of that room that he usually only used if one of them were sick. _"And stop bothering me."_ He put his head back down on the table, listening quietly as they got up and settled down in the unfamiliar bed, curling around each other at little tighter than usual.

When he could hear the soft snores, Gaster quietly got up and walked over to them. After a few moments just silently observing, he gently pulled the blankets out from under them before pulling them over the pair. _"...don't go getting attached."_ he reminded himself softly, before walking away and settling back down in his desk chair. Looked like it was another night sleeping on a hard surface in the lab for him.

Gaster never noticed eyes opening to watch him from the bed, eyes that glowed orange briefly before their owner shut them again and smiled as he cuddled closer to his brother.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so there wasn't much Papy in there. I just think that maybe he just lets his brother argue with Gaster bc despite still believing in the guy, he knows his bro has to get this out of his system. But I did put him at the end there. Internally he's like "I knew it". Heh. I love Papyrus. I'm also a bit of a sucker for morally-redeemable!Gaster if you can't tell. There's probably something wrong with me but I stopped trying to figure it out years ago. 
> 
> But yeah, reviews are encouraged! (I mean, don't feel obligated or anything to leave a review, I hate it when people get pushy about that, but reviews kinda would make my day. But do whatever you want.)


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